


Leviathan Calls

by Ghost0



Series: The Borg-Cenobite War [2]
Category: Hellraiser (Movies), Star Trek: The Next Generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:16:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28438995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: The crew of the Starship Enterprise are along the border of the Neutral Zone between Federation and Romulan space. But when they pick up on an unusual, unidentifiable signal on subspace communication, Captain Picard makes the decision to head into the Neutral Zone. What they come across raises questions and brings an aura of darkness.
Series: The Borg-Cenobite War [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018060
Kudos: 3





	Leviathan Calls

Jean-Luc Picard sat in his quarters, in front of the computer and beside a window looking out into the vastness of space. He held his hands in his lap as he stared at the screen. He took in a deep breath before reaching forward to press a button. “Captain’s Log. Stardate 47989 – We are going along the border of the Neutral Zone separating the Federation from Romulan Space. Our mission is to patrol and report any potential Romulan activity we can see from the Neutral Zone. Our mission here is expected to last seventy-two hours.” He thought about adding more, but ended the entry there. There was really nothing else to say at the moment. He reached out to pick up a book from his desk before getting up and exiting the room.

Walking onto the Bridge, William Riker stood up from the captain’s chair and looked towards him. Picard stood a few feet away from him. “How’s it going number one?”

“Smooth sailing captain.” Riker responded. “Quiet as can be expected.”

“Good.” Picard looked towards the view screen and towards the stars. He was just about to leave, letting Riker resume command of the Bridge. But as soon as he was about to turn, Lieutenant Commander Data – who was sitting several feet in front and away from them – reported something unusual.

“Captain, I am detecting a signal on subspace communication.” Data said. 

“A distress signal?” Picard asked, with Riker turning to look towards Data.

“Unable to tell sir.” Data examined his monitor. “It doesn’t appear to be of any known language. Or it could be in a language we aren’t familiar with.”

“Well it has to be in some sort of known language.” Riker insisted. “We are in Federation space.”

“That’s correct. But I don’t think the origin is from our space. Based on these readings, it appears that the origin of this communication is from the Neutral Zone.” 

Picard picked his head up and looked outside of the Enterprise. Riker turned to look at Picard. “It’s possible this could be some sort of trap set-up by the Romulans. Heading into the Neutral Zone could be read as a hostile act, allowing them to attack.”

“But it wouldn’t make sense to do it like this.” Picard mused. “For all they know, there aren’t any ships along the Federation border of the Neutral Zone. It’s more likely that they are carrying out some sort of secret project in that space. But even then, it would make more sense to do it within their own space.”

Riker looked out with Picard. “What are your orders?”

Picard thought for a few long moments, going over the possible scenarios in his head. The chance of it turning out to be some sort of trap is real. But it doesn’t strike him as something that the Romulans would do. At least not in a way that is as obvious as this. “Data, if we were to head into the Neutral Zone, how long until we find the origin of the signal?”

“By my calculations, and the strength of the signal we are receiving right now, it would take us approximately fifty-two minutes at current warp speed.”

Picard nodded. “Change course and make it so. Number One.” He turned around to look at his First Officer. “I will be in Ten-Forward. Alert me once we have arrived.” Riker nodded and resumed position on the Bridge. Picard walked up the ramp and left the Bridge. He looked back at the view screen one more time before disappearing from view.

******

The captain sat at an empty table, reading the book he had brought with him. The stars outside slowly moved by as time seemed to crawl. He was lost in his own head, not picking up on any movement until he heard the voce right next to him. “What do you have that has grabbed your attention?” Picard looked up at Guinan. He must have looked a little surprised, getting her to hold up a hand and lean back a bit. “Must be more interesting that I thought if I was able to catch you off guard.”

He relaxed a bit. “Not exactly grabbing me like you think. But I suppose it has encouraged me to explore my own thoughts.” She sat down across from him. Sliding the book over to her, she looked at it as he talked a little more. “There was a story back on Earth focused on a man named Faust. The legend originated from a country named Germany.”

“Every legend has some amount of truth in them.” Guinan commented as she flipped through the pages.

“To some extent, you are right.” Picard said. “In the story, Faust made a deal with a demon named Mephistopheles. He trades his soul for knowledge. But not divine, human. The earliest versions of the story have Faust insist on being referred to as a doctor of medicine as opposed to theology. Later versions that tried to rework the legend had Faust portrayed as a dissatisfied intellectual that wanted more than what can be offered in the mortal world.”   
“What has made you decide that you want to read more about this?” Guinan looked up at him.

Picard leaned back a bit and folded his hand in his lap. “I know it seems a little odd, but something inside me felt like I should learn more about it. Something like a voice, if you want to call it that. It’s a simple story on the surface, but it does play with some interesting ideas. The main one being that of free will vs fate. Mephistopheles is an agent of a more powerful demon, which brings up the question of how Faust decided to sell his soul. Was it his own choice or was it always meant to happen? Scholars say that Mephistopheles doesn’t search to corrupt but collects the souls of those already damned. It has also got me to thinking about the extent people would be willing to go to achieve some of their greatest desires and why they want it in the first place.”

“Here is a question that I have.” Guinan raised an eyebrow. “Would you consider this Faust to be evil? Someone who deserves to have their soul damned for eternity? Assuming you believe in the concept of a soul.”

“I believe…that nothing is purely evil. There are people who have let darkness cloud their judgements and their thinking. But I am able to find something within them to relate to on some level. They are all motivated by a very real emotion or fear. With Faust, I feel that he is a person who simply seeks to find some meaning that helps define his existence. I suppose in some way; he did get a peek behind the curtain.” Picard sighed. “As for the concept of the soul…I value integrity and some sense of morality. If that is what the soul is, then I do believe it exists.”

He turned his head to the side to look out. His heart beat a little faster as he saw what was outside. Guinan’s look of curiosity turned into shock. The Enterprise has come across not one Borg Cube, but several. At first, fear took over Picard’s mind at the sight. But as he forced himself to examine the scene he found that something was wrong. Most of the cubes seemed to have been severely damaged, even altered to some degree. Spike like structures emerged from the surface of a few of them, all of them had chunks torn out with large gaping holes staring back at whoever looked upon them. The only cube that seemed to be intact was altered and mutated. Spikes shaped like the pyramids of Egypt back on Earth were on top and below the cube. The vessel itself seemed to almost be twisted, the levels of the ship not all aligned. As Picard looked out at the mutated cube, he felt a sense of dread almost overwhelm him. He didn’t even need to listen to Riker’s voice to know that he was being called to the Bridge. It took less than a minute for the captain to step foot back on the Bridge.

He rushed down the ramp and continued to look through the view screen. “Have you scanned for life forms?”

“Currently scanning the last Borg cube sir.” Data responded. A few seconds later, he was able to give an answer. “There appears to be some indication of life on the undamaged cube in front of us. But something is blocking our sensors to get a reading on how many individuals are on board.”

“What do you suppose could have done this?” Riker asked Picard. But before Picard could respond, another ship appeared on the screen. It was a Romulan warbird, their attention seemed to be focused on the cubes.

“Sir, we are being hailed by the Romulans.” Data said.

“On screen.” Riker sat down as Picard centered himself and looked at the view screen. As soon as a face was visible, Picard began to speak. “This is Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise.”

“Captain Hurai. I would ask why you have entered the Neutral Zone, but it looks like I don’t have to.” The Romulan captain said with a stern look on his face.  
“We received a signal that originated from here. We have arrived seconds before you did.”

“So you are not responsible for the mess here?”

Picard shook his head. “I assure you, we have had no involvement in whatever has occurred regarding the Borg. And we are just as eager as you are to get to the bottom of this.”

“We are able to handle the situation as is. Federation assistance is not required.”

“With all due respect, but any activity that includes the Borg is of concern for every species, Federation or not.” Picard paused for a moment. “I propose we both send a party to transport onto the remaining Borg cube and investigate. I will go myself.” Riker moved his eyes to look at Picard but remained silent. Not wanting to question his decision in front of the Romulan. 

Captain Hurai remained silent for a little while. But his shoulders lowered and his head lifted up slightly. “Very well Captain Picard. We will send a party, which will wait for your arrival. Then you are free to divide the search in any way you feel is safe.” He disappeared from the screen, the mutated Borg ship back in sight. 

Riker got up and approached Picard. “You can’t be serious about going on board.”

“If any Borg are on there, they will leave us alone as long as they don’t view us as a threat.” Picard assured him. “Commander Data and Lieutenant Worf, you will accompany me onto the Borg ship.”

“Yes Captain.” Worf said. Data got up and the two of them started to leave the Bridge.

“Are you sure that you want to go on there?” Riker asked again.

Picard nodded. “Yes Number One. As I have the most familiarity with the Borg, hopefully I can figure out what exactly went wrong. You have command.” Picard left Riker in charge of the Bridge as he leads Worf and Data to the transporter room. Once there, Picard fought back flashes of his time as Locutus. He mentally prepared himself for whatever might be on that Borg ship. And a few seconds later, all three of them left the Enterprise and stepped on board a ship that will prove to be more disturbing than they thought possible.


End file.
